Naia Souza. Funeral Costs and Expenses

Team fundraiser

Sandy Mariano and Wend-Orrie Pawai are organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Naia Souza really was an amazing young man and the best kid to have in one's life. I knew he would be someone remarkable and memorable, knowing what he wanted to do with his life at such a young age. In less than a year, he taught himself how to speak, read, and write in one of the most difficult foreign languages there is from Japanese books given to him from his Aunty Jenny. He was preparing himself to be an Army Airborne Ranger when he graduated from Baldwin High School. He loved helping fellow neighbors of his small community in Kahakuloa Village. Picking Kalo and helping with the construction of the river crossings. Wherever, whenever, he loved to help. He was extremely dedicated to his ROTC teammates and his closest of friends. He loved wearing his suit and tie to school with his trench coat. He had a wise old soul, way above his years in his perception of the world.

Sadly, Naia had since passed unexpectedly a few weeks ago. It was just like any other day on November 14, 2020. He stepped out of his house and never made it back. He was only 16 years old, just 3 weeks shy until his birthday. Losing a loved one is hard enough, but losing a child is just unbearable. This hasn’t been easy for my family to grasp the new reality of what we must now face and endure. Thinking what you could have done… None of that matters in the end. But what does is how we rise above and grow from difficult hardships and tragedies like these. He carried the weight of the world upon his shoulders and loved harder than anybody could. He was always a social butterfly and needed to be with his people. So much of what we take for granted of the simplest of things we could do can be taken from you in an instant. I should have told him he was special and unique when I had the chance, just as the Lord above had intended.

Naia loved his family very much, whom he leaves behind here on earth. He cherished the immeasurable bond with his father, Ben, who taught him and his brothers the value of Kalo planting. He shared special connections with his twin brother, Ahi, and their younger brother, Manu, and many outdoor adventures. He has two sisters and his biological mother as well. And my younger sister, Wend-Orrie, a woman who came into his life as a young boy, who loves him all the same, someone he cared deeply for as well, whom he considered being his stepmom. I say family comes in all different shades, but the love in one’s family is always the same color.

If you have experienced this kind of heartache in your own family, then we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your kind words and compassion for my family. We humbly ask for assistance with Naia Souza’s funeral fees and burial arrangements. No amount is the wrong amount if you feel in your heart, you would like to help us out. We graciously accept it and do not know how we can ever repay the monetary kindness you provide us with. “Tragedy don’t care what day it is, but it can bring out the truly blessed in us in times like these.”- Sandy M. 2020

No words can express what your contributions means our ohana. I cannot thank you enough for your generosity and we are humbled by the love you give to us and our cause.